The Doctrines of Grace, Part 9

April 23, 2012 Jay Wegter

INTRODUCTION – The world has a definition of freedom and happiness that is divorced from holiness in the Lord. Since the Fall of us all in our first parents, the human race has worshipped and served the creation instead of the Creator (Rom. 1:25). At salvation, we become new creatures with new desires. We were changed from worshippers of the creation, to worshippers of the Creator. As a result, salvation is sanctification. For sanctification means that the believer is set apart for God. The Christian is set apart for God, and set apart from the world to be a worshipper of God (1 Cor. 6:13-20).

Therefore salvation entails a new relationship with God and a new relationship toward the world. As the reality of our salvation relationships is lived out, we are progressively sanctified by God’s Spirit. To the degree that the believer cooperates with God’s purposes in sanctification, he will experience joy, peace, assurance, growth in grace and perseverance.

A Christian’s devotion to God’s purpose in sanctification is referred to in Romans 12:1 as his “reasonable” or “rational” service of worship. It is “rational” to devote oneself to sanctification because we were saved for the purpose of enjoying God. And it is impossible to enjoy God without holiness!

At our justification, we received the perfect status of adoption before God. Every barrier that blocked the reception of God’s love was removed at justification. We ought to regard sanctification as taking our justification seriously, for sanctification prepares us to live with God forever.

Application – Discuss the reasons why holiness in the Lord is the only true happiness. Note the following connections between holiness and happiness.

1.) Humans were made for God. Salvation restores that created purpose. An idol or “false integration point” cannot bring joyful unity to the soul of man.

2.) It is unspeakable joy, pleasure and peace to possess a conscience that is clear enough to reflect the face of the Creator. It is only the clear conscience that possesses a boundless capacity for the reception of God’s love.

3.) Truth and beauty are joined. The highest beauty is God’s holiness. When the

creature is holy, he is able to look upon God’s holiness and be ravished by it.

4.) Holiness is to be lifted out of self-consciousness, self-concern and selfishness.

To be perfected in holiness is to possess a limitless for passion for God’s glory.

5.) The Lord is the habitation of righteousness. Gospel holiness brought to full

fruition involves being an eternal partaker in the righteousness of God.

Holiness rejoices that God shares His own righteousness with His redeemed

creatures.

6.) It is the holy individual who becomes an unhindered channel of God’s love.

The “wine” of heaven is to endlessly experience God’s love passing through

one’s soul as it is expressed to others.

SALVATION IS A COMPREHENSIVE WORD IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.

But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:13, all Scripture citations from the New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, (La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation) 1996.

In modern Christianity, the term “salvation” is often used only to mean deliverance from eternal judgment. By contrast, Scripture emphasizes the completeness and comprehensiveness of salvation. God saves us from sin, misery, guilt, pollution, wrath, death and corruption. In the Bible, the person who is “being saved” manifests a liberty from the dominion of sin. Eternal life is the OUTCOME of a life of overcoming sin and serving righteousness through Christ (Rom. 6:22,23).

As with every true believer, the Thessalonians were CHOSEN by God for salvation. The decree of election connects the ends (salvation), with the means (sanctification). The saints are electedunto holiness. God has chosen us that we might be holy. Those who are truly the elect of God will not fail to achieve that end by God’s grace (Eph. 1:4).

Believers are “beloved by the Lord.” They owe their preservation to Christ’s effectual love in shepherding and preserving their souls. They owe their stability in persevering to the election of grace.

Application – God will not forsake the work of His hands! Where He has begun a work, He will perfect unto the day of salvation (Phil. 1:6). Those who are being sanctified by the Holy Spirit will persevere to the end.

GOD BRINGS ABOUT OUR SALVATION BY MEANS OF SANCTIFICATION BY THE SPIRIT AND FAITH IN THE TRUTH.

Those chosen for salvation as the end and goal are prepared for it by sanctification. Sanctification is the necessary means to obtain that end. This salvation which becomes our possession, is THROUGH sanctification by the work of the Holy Spirit. Sanctification is a process. It causes the believer to be increasingly detached from the world and increasingly devoted to Christ.

Application – Sanctification is never offered as an option. Sanctification is the will of God for all Christians (1 Thess. 4:3-8).

SANCTIFICATION IS A GIFT BY CHRIST AND HIS WORK ON OUR BEHALF.

BUT THIS GIFT PLACES A HEAVY OBLIGATION UPON US AS BELIEVERS.

Christians are under obligation to be active in the power of God (Rom. 8:12-17). They are to put to death the deeds of the flesh and reckon themselves alive to God and dead to the misdeeds of the flesh (Rom. 6:11-13). This obligation is in total agreement with our new nature. For God has quickened our reason, wills and affections that they may be put to work in sanctification.

The Holy Spirit sanctifies us. He communicates the benefits of Christ and His death to us. The power of the cross is active in both justification and sanctification. Faith accepts Christ’s work as the ground of both (See Romans 6, 1 Cor. 1:30, Heb. 2:11; 12:2).

Application – We are dependent upon Christ for our sanctification. We are to cry to Him as our merciful High Priest. He willingly gives us new measures of mercy and sanctifying grace (Heb. 4:15,16). Jesus told His disciples, “apart from Me you can do nothing (Jn. 15:5).

Sanctification is born out of union with Christ. Sanctification is so related to Christ that one cannot receive it but by communion with Him. (When we exercise faith in the truth of Christ we are communing with Him.)

THE HOLY SPIRIT WORKS UPON US SO THAT OUR WILLS, OUR MINDS AND OUR AFFECTIONS GIVE VITAL, ACTIVE CONSENT TO THE TRUTH REVEALED IN CHRIST.

Just as we received justification by faith in Christ, so also we receive sanctification’s progress by faith in Christ. It is ongoing faith in the truth of God’s Word that sanctifies us (Jn. 17:17). When the truth is believed and loved, it dominates exceptionally in all areas of one’s life.

The believer’s relationship to God’s truth goes far beyond assent and admiration. The true Christian loves the truth so as to be transformed by it. The truth becomes central in his thoughts, meditations, affections and decisions.

Application – The saints are commanded to work out their salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12,13). But this is not to suggest that our activity in sanctification is a legal or law work. Actually, our progress is purely evangelical. That is, it is gospel based. All of our advancement in holiness flows from the cross.

The “fear and trembling” has to do with the awesome proposition that the God of the universe is intimately at work in our thinking, desiring and willing. It is a fearful and wonderful thing to recognize that He is constantly willing to animate our obedience. It is also as cause for fear and self-watch to consider that our flesh may resist the operations of the Spirit. We are warned not to place ourselves in peril by neglecting the means of grace (Heb. 2:3; 10:22-25). Review the duties commanded of all believers (attention to the Word, prayer, the Lord’s Supper and fellowship).

THE EFFECTUAL CALL OF THE GOSPEL IS UNTO HONOR, HAPPINESS AND THE GLORY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.

It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 2:14).

It is the gracious will of our Savior that the glory He possesses and the glory He has purchased be communicated to those believe in Him and obey His gospel. Those who believe and repent shall be with Christ to behold His glory and they shall be glorified with Christ and partake of His glory. The everlasting life we possess now will have its fulfillment in the redemption of our bodies. God calls us to heaven. He expects us to run the race set before us with endurance.

Application – Consider the relationship between our progress in holiness and the level of our desire to be with the Lord (see 2 Cor. 4:16-5:10; Rom. 8:23-25; Phil. 3:20,21; 1 Pet. 1:3-9; 1 Jn. 2:28-3:3).

THE LORD EXHORTS US TO “STAND FAST” AND NOT TO WAVER. MANY OBSTACLES STAND IN THE WAY OF OUR SANCTIFICATION.

So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us (2 Thessalonians 2:15).

We must lean heavily upon the Lord in order to lay aside our doubts and fears and stand fast (Rom. 14:4; 1 Cor. 16:13). God’s election is NOT a ground for inaction on our part. God’s choice of us is the strongest incentive to action and perseverance. Scripture always joins privilege and duty. (You have an anointing, now abide in Him, 1 John 2:27,28.) Since life and favor are assured to us in Christ, then we are to live for Him, depending upon His promised installments of future grace. (Review the privileges of 2 Thess. 2:13-15.)

Application – The Christian is justified that he might be sanctified. Now that he possesses righteousness in Christ and is assured of immutable love and favor, he can pursue sanctification with complete abandon. There is no cause for fear of failure.

Unlike the believer, the unregenerate man possesses no such position or status before God. He or she is yet in a state of moral paralysis. Their sins remind them of their liability to judgment before God. Their moral failures stir up their enmity toward God. Their guilt presses a sense of God’s disfavor upon their consciences. As a result, they have no incentive or power to pursue holiness. They need to see the beauty and preciousness of Christ, the Friend of sinners. Every unbeliever is a stranger to grace. Therefore the pursuit of God’s holiness sounds to him like trying to build a ladder to the moon.

A SUMMARY OF REASONS WHY THE SCRIPTURES CALL FOR PERSEVERANCE.

1.) Perseverance is necessary because the Christian life is a fight (James 1:12; Heb. 3:6; Acts 14:21,22). We are called to be overcomers. We are to live out Christ’s victory in our life and walk (1 Pet. 2:21).

2.) Perseverance is a necessity because it is a vital safeguard against presumption. Those who profess Christ are warned against the prospect of self-deception (Eph. 5:1-6).

3.) Perseverance is necessary because hypocrites walk for a time, become careless, then fall away (Matt. 13:18-23). God uses exhortations to perseverance to admonish and awaken diligence and holy fear in the saints. It is God’s way of instilling sober-mindedness.

4.) Perseverance is necessary because it such a revealer of your relationship with God’s truth (Col. 1:9-14).

5.) Perseverance is necessary because it is genuine faith in action. Perseverance is the opposite of a mystical, privitized religion that remains locked in the corner of one’s soul. When Christ returns, He will find His people pressing along the path of duty and using the means of grace (1 Pet. 4:7).

The Most Common Objections to the Doctrine of God’s Decree

April 23, 2012 Jay Wegter

1.) Foreordination is inconsistent with man’s free agency.

An act does not have to be uncertain to be free. A free act may be certain (i.e. established as certain within God’s decree). An act that is foreknown is as certain as one that is foreordained. If it were possible to have an act foreknown but not foreordained, it would not preserve any more of man’s free agency. An act is foreknown by God because He has foreordained it, it is not foreordained because he foreknew it. (See Luke 22:22; Matt. 26:24; Jn. 6:70, 71; 13:2, 27.)

2.) The Foreordination of the Fall (or Decree to Permit Sin) is Inconsistent with God’s Holiness.

Even if He has not fully disclosed it to us, God has a righteous and holy purpose for allowing His rational creatures the free agency to fall from a state of unconfirmed holiness. He is not the author of sin; the judge who pronounces the sentence is not responsible for the sinful response after the verdict is pronounced. The parent who puts the child to bed is not responsible for the tantrum that ensues.

God predestined the crucifixion of His only begotten Son, but God was in no way responsible for the wicked acts of the men who caused Christ’s sufferings (see Acts 2 and 4). Foreordination establishes the certainty of a fact, but does not make God the author or “compeller” of the decreed behavior.

3.) Foreordination Destroys all Motivation for Exertion.

Opponents of the doctrine of foreordination have drawn a caricature of the truth by suggesting the following: “If all is foreordained, then let’s sit back and relax. We don’t need to do anything, it will all come to pass.”

The above false assumption supposes that God has determined the end without respect to the means (or without respect to the means of accomplishing the end).

It is a fact that the end is always reached by the use of means (whether the end is righteous or wicked, it is reached by the use of means).

God has purposed the things that shall come to pass in history through the acts of individuals. From God’s standpoint, everything is certain and secure. From our standpoint, it is possible to wander from God’s will into disobedience. As believers it is possible to turn against God’s will and experience His discipline as a result. Through rebellion and unbelief, we may stray from God’s best for us.

The fact that something is sure to come to pass (because it is foreordained and promised by God) may act as a motive to pursue it rather than a reason to neglect it (see Heb. 6:11, 12; 2 Peter 1:1-11; Acts 27).

The stronger the hope of success, the greater the motive there is to exert oneself. Where the hope of success is the least, the motive to exert oneself is the weakest. (The greatest missionary evangelists have believed in God’s sovereign grace. They spent their lives exerting themselves for what they were sure God would bring to pass.)

4.) Foreordination is Fate or Fatalism, it Makes Men “Robots.”

Scoffers reason as follows, “If everything is going to come to pass as God has planned it, then we are locked into a certain, inescapable fate.”

Is it accurate to say that there is no difference between fatalism and foreordination as far as the certainty of events is concerned? Oddly enough yes – both preach the certainty of events. BUT, fatalism comprehends no goal. Fatalism says such in such was going to happen, “no matter what.”

The operation of the “laws” of fate have no soul. They only encompass the unintelligent linking of events. Fatalism has no personal plan behind it that is designed to manifest God’s attributes and perfections through man’s salvation.

By contrast, foreordination involves an all-wise, all loving Father who is responsible for events in their sequence and for their accomplishments.

The unfolding of providence will prove to be the perfect exhibition of the divine perfections. God’s infinite wisdom will on the last day be evident in His design for mankind and creation.

Fatalism leads to despair and an amoral, cynical perspective. Foreordination leads to filial confidence in the Father who is truly eternal and true to His gracious covenant. Foreordination leads to humility in the presence of God who works all things according to the counsel of His will. (God’s sovereignty is also a warning to the impenitent that comprehensive judgment and punishment is sure to come to those who do not receive God’s salvation.)

5.) Divine Foreordination Makes our Actions Less Important.

Just the opposite is true. This brief life involves the daily principle of sowing and reaping. Foreordination makes our actions exceedingly important. In essence God really confirms our choices. The real efficiency of second causes (means) is in the hand of God. He alone establishes the work of our hands. He alone confirms or nullifies the plans of men.

Our absolute dependence and moral accountability ought to make us cling to God. Bible believing Christians know that God is ever-present, almighty and that He powerfully controls events so as to accomplish His purposes in the elect. (His love, protection and wisdom are with them.)

6.) How can we Trust in a God who has Foreordained the Damnation of the Majority of Mankind? Wouldn’t that fact Engender an Insurmountable Suspicion toward Him?

God’s character can only be understood by those who have tasted redemption. The redeemed know their ill-desert. They understand their depravity and former enmity toward God. They know that their sins made them deserving of condemnation.

But, they have seen the glory of God in the face of Christ. It is futility to attempt to understand God’s foreordination unless one is a born again Christian. Apart from regeneration, the creature will always allow his enmity to condition his reasoning processes. He will always side with the interests of the rebellious creature against the interests of God’s glory.

Illustration: We could compare the high doctrine of foreordination to a high mountain with a fence and gate around it. No one is permitted to explore the mountain so as to gain understanding UNTIL he deals with Jesus Christ who is the Keeper of the gate. Christ only lets believers through the gate.

Foreordination never kept anyone out of heaven. In fact, without foreordination, no one would savingly believe upon Christ so as to be made an heir of eternal life.

7.) The Doctrine of Foreordination brings us no Comfort when we see Wholesale Wickedness, Suffering and Injustice in the World.

When we see evil abounding, tragedies, injustices, victimization, it may prompt us to think disturbing thoughts about God. For we reason that our God who knows all and foreordains all, “could have prevented these horrible things!” “Where is His goodness now?” “If He doesn’t approve of this, why did He let it happen, much less foreordain it?”

God has righteous purposes for granting men a brief season to exercise their free agency and to express their wickedness. Very soon, God will again invade human history. Then He will restrain evil and publicly judge those who practice it. Every person will prove to be an eternal object lesson to the watching universe (either a vessel of mercy or of wrath, Rom. 9).

Our problem with God’s sovereign permission of evil rises out of our objection that says in effect, “God ought to live in time as we do, instead of in eternity.” “He ought to make the goodness of His character evident to us in everything He decrees.”

Our problem is that we are insisting that God demonstrate His righteousness, holiness, justice and goodness in every human event. We want Him to make it so plain to us that we can see it and approve of it. We want the events He decrees to be compatible with our sense and reason. Like Habakkuk, we hate to wait. We lack the faith to wait until He brings His perfect consummation to history. There are countless acts in history where God has overruled evil for good (i.e., story of Joseph).

8.) If God Foreordained the Acts of Wicked Men, then how did the Men have a Choice in the Matter?

Foreordination renders certain an act to be performed by person. Foreordination does not compel the person to perform the act. Men are at liberty to do what they desire. God does not coerce them. Man is a responsible free agent who originates his own sinful acts.

Sin is transgression of God’s law and is disobedience to the Lawgiver Himself. God does not influence men to sin against Him.

Men who freely choose to not retain God in their thoughts will carry out their depraved desires and (apart from God’s grace) will continue toward destruction. God’s providence directs all of His creatures. He puts limits upon all men. He limits the activities of the wicked to operate within certain boundaries.

God’s providence does not violate the laws of men’s natures. When God chooses to withhold His restraining grace, He Himself does not make the sinner more sinful. The sinner out of his own volition and desire moves further toward a depraved mind God’s providence may bring or permit circumstances which accelerate the sinner’s blindness and self-hardening (i.e., Pharaoh, Rom. 9).

Illustration: The same sunshine that softens wax, hardens clay – the reason lies in the difference of their natures. Regeneration is the only example of God “violating” the law of a man’s nature. When He brings about the new birth, He sovereignly implants a whole new principle from which springs new behaviors.

CONCLUSION

The doctrine of foreordination is a comfort to the believer. The doctrine reassures him that every aspect of his life is under God’s care and wisdom. Thus, this truth argues for a greater degree of entrusting oneself to God. When rightly understood, it stimulates in us prayerfulness, dependence, thanksgiving, and waiting upon God. It is a doctrine that humbles us. It makes us cry for more grace to incline our hearts after God’s will.

Foreordination reminds us that all we are in ourselves is sin. Whatever is done by the “new man” constitutes an activity that belongs to the power of the new nature – the nature energized by the grace of God’s Spirit. This doctrine should move a believer to consolation, humility and diligence.

There is not a chance that a natural man will begin to do good or begin to do that which is pleasing to God. We are absolutely dependent upon the Creator. The unbeliever is as well, but does not acknowledge that truth.